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ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS districts occupied by the Teutonic invaders of Britain in the sixth century are approximately defined by sepulchral relics re- covered from the soil. Such discoveries are, in the nature of things, accidental, and are generally due to workmen, who are seldom at the pains to ensure a complete record of the finds. Much valuable material has been lost in this way, and doubtless many areas at present un- productive only await excavation to fill up gaps in our knowledge of the period ; but it may be taken for granted that where, in spite of all hindrances, much of the kind has been discovered the pagan population was comparatively dense. The converse is not so safe a rule, but negative evidence may be some- times corroborated by a consideration of the geographical features, as the early Anglo-Saxon settlers were all on the same level of culture, and would have the same preferences in the matter of soil and situation. To such arguments may be added the few indications in history or tradition as to the origins of England, but it must be confessed that for most of the English counties early records are either wanting or open to more than one interpretation, and it is now only in the domain of archaeology that there is any hope of fuller information. The present county owes its geographical limits to the political arrange- ments of the later Saxon period, when England had become a kingdom ; but as most of the remains to be considered in this chapter are clearly of the pagan period, the present boundaries must be disregarded in favour of certain archaeological and physical divisions. Further, for the period in question, the coalfields and potteries may be neglected, though during the Roman occupation coal was evidently used for fuel, and the clays of this neighbour- hood were used for pottery. 1 A pastoral and agricultural people would naturally settle in the vicinity of rivers, which, indeed, offered one of the easiest roads into the interior before the primeval forests were cleared or the marsh lands drained. The accompanying map, which aims at locating all the authentic Anglo- Saxon discoveries of the pagan period, makes it clear that the earliest Teutonic settlements fall into two main groups, on the north and east of the present county. Except for the south Staffordshire coalfield, practically all south of Cheadle and Stone is Triassic formation, consisting of the Keuper and Bunter beds, which are peculiarly productive of forest. Such, for instance, is the 1 Hence the name ' Salopian ' applied by Thos. Wright and others to pottery found on the Roman site of Uriconium (Wroxeter), and probably manufactured in the vicinity of Broseley. 199